Friday the 13th is not considered to be an unlucky day in all cultures.  Greeks, Mexicans, Spaniards and most Latin Americans believe that Tuesday the 13th, or "martes y trece", is the day to be careful.   Some attribute this to the origin of the word martes, which derives from Mars, the Roman god of war.  Others say that the confusion of tongues that resulted from the construction of the Tower of Babel took place on a Tuesday the 13th.

There is an oft-quoted Spanish proverb that advises against making important decisions on Tuesday the 13th: en martes y trece, ni te cases ni te embarques (on Tuesday the 13th, don't get married and don't take a trip).  There are other proverbs about Tuesdays in Spanish:

• El martes ni hijo cases, ni cochino mates (don't have your son marry nor slaughter pigs).
  
• En martes ni tela urdas, ni hija cases, ni las lleves a confesar porque no dirán la verdad (don't weave fabric, nor have your daughters marry or confess, because they won't tell the truth).
  
• El martes ni tu casa mudes, ni tu hija cases, ni tu ropa tejas (don't move your home nor have your daughter marry nor weave fabric).
  

Are there any proverbs in English about being careful on Fridays?

Photo by Leo Reynolds. Licensed under Creative Commons.

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AUGUSTA, Ga. -- Sergio Garcia has surrendered.

Again.

After playing a borderline humiliating round alongside Rory McIlroy at the Masters on Saturday, the former boy wonder admitted that he's not good enough to win a major.

It's hardly the first time the outspoken, emotional Spaniard has over-reacted, especially at Augusta National, a place he criticized so strongly three years ago, he was forced to issue an apology. But this is strong, introspective stuff.

After starting the third round one stroke off the lead, Garcia tanked with a 75 and was in an absolutely defeatist mood afterward as he vented to the Spanish press. The comments were translated by the Augusta Chronicle.

"I am not good enough to win a major," he said.

He was just getting started. How much was lost in translation and nuance is hard to say, but here's what he was quoted as saying after the round.

"I'm not good enough," he said. "I don't have the thing I need to have."

You can read the rest of the story here.

By Alessia Leathers for The News Press 

Colors can be a serious business, not only for artists but also for companies.

Nike recently released an ad promoting “Black and Tan” sneakers, not realizing that while these colors allude to a certain mixture of beers in the U.S. and England, such as half dark and half pale ale, it brings negative connotations for Irish people.

Indeed, this combination reminds them of unfortunate episodes in their efforts to become independent during the first part of the 20th century.

As Bryan Boyd of The Irish Times explained in a recent interview aired by NPR, “the Black and Tans were a ruthless auxiliary force of the British army responsible for wide-scale massacres.” Without delay, Nike publicly apologized stating that no offense was intended.

The incident, though, has already sparked an old discussion about colors. The online version of Merriam-Webster dictionary, for instance, has released a section dedicated exclusively to explaining the origin of unusual hues, such as vermilion (vivid reddish orange), titian (brownish orange), puce (dark red) and Cattleya (medium purple).

Nike’s campaign reminded me of the controversy still going on in my country, Peru, over the beige colored crayon wrongly named “flesh color” (color carne).

Even though Crayola explains in its Web site that the company voluntarily changed the name “flesh” to “peach” in 1962 as a result of the U.S. Civil Rights Movement, the word “flesh” is still widely used in many Spanish speaking countries.

Read the complete story here.

 

March 19th, the feast day of St. Joseph the carpenter, is celebrated in Valencia, Spain with the burning of large, papier-mache and plaster statues know as ninots.  Las Fallas, or The Fires, is a five day celebration that culminates in the burning of the structures which satirize the famous, the infamous, and current events. 

The ninots can stretch several stories high and take up to a year to build.  On March 19 at midnight, the ninots are ignited simultaneously, destroying thousands of hours of work.  The festival is believed to have pagan origins, when fires were ignited for people to get rid of the old and to start anew.  It is probably no coincidence that this rite takes place on the eve of the first day of spring.

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The U.S., Canada, and Australia are known for having large populations who claim Irish ancestry, but the the Irish diaspora also played a significant role in Latin America.

• There are an estimated 500,000 people of Irish descent living in Argentina.

• The Batallón de San Patricio, or St. Patricks's Batallion, was a unit of the Mexican army that fought in the Mexican-American war in 1846-1848.  Writings from the period said the batallion's flag carried two mottos: Libertad por la República Mexicana (Liberty for the Mexican Republic) as well as Erin go Bragh (Ireland Forever).
  

• The founder of the Argentine navy was Guillermo Brown, né William, born in County Mayo.  He led Argentine independence fighters in combat against the Spanish armada in 1814, and served in the Argentine navy for more than 30 years.

• The first president of Chile was Bernardo O'Higgins.

• The town of O'Brien in the province of Buenos Aires was built on land donated by Eduardo O'Brien, who was born in Ireland before emigrating to South America at 14.

• Che Guevara's grandmother's last name was Lynch.  Che's father said, "The first thing to note is that in my son's veins flowed the blood of the Irish rebels".
  

• Guillén de Lampart, born William Lamport in Ireland, was arrested and charged with plotting a rebellion to establish an independent Mexican state in 1642.  His possessions included a document he wrote that is considered to be the first  declaration of independence in the New World.

Erin go Bragh!

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